KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is a sovereign state under the Federation of Malaysia and would never recognise the defunct Sulu sultanate’s claim, says Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

       The Chief Minister urged Sabahans to remain calm and let the state and Federal governments’ legal teams handle the issue of RM62.59bil compensation awarded by a Paris arbitration court to the so-called heirs of the sultan of Sulu.

       “It is an absurd claim. Sabah’s sovereignty in the Malaysian federation should never be questioned,” he said in a statement here on Friday (March 4).

       Wisma Putra and the Attorney General, in a joint statement, have said that Malaysia rejects and does not recognise the French arbitration court’s order.

       It was reported that Spanish arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa had, in a French arbitration court on Feb 28 where Malaysia was not represented, ordered the country to pay compensation to the heirs of the Sulu sultan amounting to US$14.92bil (RM62.59bil).

       The self-proclaimed heirs made the claim after Malaysia allegedly stopped payments of RM5,300 cession money under the 1878 agreement signed by Sultan Jamal Al Alam, Baron de Overbeck and the British North Borneo Company’s Alfred Dent.